No immediate comeback to national team for Butt, Asif: PCB selector

Haroon Rasheed has ruled out an immediate comeback to the national team by the spot-fixing tainted duo of Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, who will resume playing domestic cricket from January 10 in the National One-day Championship.

Haroon Rasheed said even Mohammad Aamir, centre, was only recalled to the national team after playing one full season of domestic cricket.(Agencies)

The Pakistan cricket team’s chief selector Haroon Rasheed has ruled out an immediate comeback to the national team by the spot-fixing tainted duo of Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, who will resume playing domestic cricket from January 10 in the National One-day Championship.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has permitted the duo to play for their department Wapda in the national event, which begins in Karachi and Islamabad.

But Rasheed made it clear that there would be no immediate return for Butt and Asif to the national team even if they performed well in the championship.

“I would say they will have to wait until the next season and appear in the first class tournament before we can decide whether their form, fitness and attitude makes us consider them for national selection,” Rasheed said on ‘Geo Super’ channel.

He said even Mohammad Aamir, the third player involved in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal in England, was only recalled to the Pakistan team after one proper domestic season.

“In Aamir’s case, the ICC allowed him to resume playing last April and first he played Grade-11 cricket, then in different T20 tournaments and finally in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and Bangladesh Premier League before we invited him for the national camp,” the chief selector said.

“It was only after we were satisfied with his form, fitness and behaviour in the camp that we decided to give him a second chance to play for the national team and picked him for the tour to New Zealand,” Rasheed said.

He also pointed out that Aamir had undergone all necessary reintegration and rehabilitation programs of the PCB before he was allowed back into the team.

“It is too early to consider Butt and Asif. They are still completing their rehab and we have to see how they perform. But they will have to wait I think until next season,” he added.